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Gebrselassie sets half marathon record
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-17 09:20
TEMPE, Ariz. - Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world half marathon record by
21 seconds Sunday while running the last half of the Rock 'N' Roll Arizona
marathon.
He also broke the 20-kilometer world mark en route. It marked the 19th and
20th times the diminutive Ethiopian has broken world records in his career.
"This one is so fantastic because this is my first one in America," he said.
"It's a little special to me. It's really, really wonderful."
His half marathon time of 58 minutes, 55 seconds on a clear, crisp morning
through the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe broke the mark of 59:16 set
by 18-year-old Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, last Sept.
11.
His 20-kilometer time, also officially clocked, was 55:48. That broke the
world record held by his longtime rival, Paul Tergat of Kenya, of 56:18 set in
the Stramilano, Italy, half marathon on April 4, 1998.
Ethiopians dominated the marathon, too, taking the first four spots in the
men's competition and going 1-2 in the women's.
Shimelis Mola ran down defending champion Terefae Yee to win the men's race
in 2:13.08. Yee was second in 2:13.13. Shitaye Gemechu won the women's race,
holding off runner-up Askale Tafa in 2:31.46. Gemechu has won all three Rock `N'
Roll Arizona marathons.
While nearly 34,000 took part in the marathon and related running events on
Sunday, only Gebrselassie and four pacesetters took off from the midpoint of the
marathon course. Initially, he was slower than Wanjiru's world-record pace, but
that changed when the 32-year-old four-time world champion and two-time Olympic
gold medalist took off on his own some 10 kilometers into his race.
That was by design, he said.
"That was our plan. We didn't expect the first part of the race to be fast,"
Gebrselassie said. "Our plan was for the second part. My plan was to run under
59 minutes and that is what we did."
With rock bands playing each mile along the way, Gebrselassie showed no signs
of laboring, looking as if he was on a simple morning run. He averaged less than
4 1/2 minutes per mile over the 13.1 miles.
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